RUSHTON SPENCER, RAVENSCLOUGH, BOSLEY
CLOUD, COACH AND HORSES AT TIMBERSBROOK, OVERTON HALL, PARK HOUSE FARM, EGG
MARSH FARM, MARLS FIELD FARM, ASHMORE HOUSE FARM, PYATT FARM, BLACKWOODHILL
FARM, ST LAWRENCE’S CHURCH AT RUSHTON, AND OLDE KING’S HEAD, GURNETT
Distance: 10-11 Miles.
Difficulty: Moderate.
Weather: Dry with Occasional Wintry
Sunshine.
Walkers: Peter Beal, Colin Davison, Lawrie
Fairman, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, and George Whaites.
B Walker: Geoff Spurrell.
Non-Walking Drinkers: John Eckersley and
Tony Job.
Apology: George Dearsley (working).
Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart. Driver: The
late Colin Davison.
Starting Point: Free council car park to
the rear of Knott Inn car park, Rushton Spencer.
Starting Time: 9.57am. Finishing Time:
3.02pm.
After successive wet Wednesdays, we were
rewarded with ideal walking conditions. Although it was a mainly grey day, the
temperature was mild for late January and by the afternoon a strange yellow
object was spotted in the sky which was identified as the sun. Despite recent
rain, our leader managed to steer us away from any muddier routes.
Visibility was also surprisingly good, and
from the top of Bosley Cloud we were able to see landmarks 55 miles to our
west, 40 miles to the north-west and 53 miles to the south. Our journey took us
through several traditional small farms in rural North Staffordshire and past
one field containing a less than traditional herd of llamas.
The start was delayed because our volunteer
driver had forgotten the time he was supposed to pick up George W and I. The
previous week, having made arrangements to call at my home at 8.50am, the
curly-haired one asked for an email to confirm the arrangement in case he
forgot. You may think, dear readers, that the sending of such an email would be
foolproof. Not so. Our driver failed to materialise at the appointed time and
then insisted he was not due until 9.15am – before realising he had been
reading a different email from a different person about a different day !
Any suggestions about how such
misunderstandings can be avoided in future would be welcome – but bear in mind
that the wanderer in question has no landline and his mobile phone only works
in certain rooms in his house.
From the car park we headed left (north), passing
on our left the former Rushton railway station, built in 1841 to serve the
Macclesfield-Leek line, and now a private home. We crossed the road to reach
the disused rail line and walked along it until the path petered out (14mins).
At this point we turned left downhill and followed a wooden public footpath
sign marked “Cloud.”
Crossing a footbridge over a stream
(23mins), we entered Ravensclough by a flight of steps and crossed a stile to
the left of Ravensclough Farm. We turned left to follow a wooden public
footpath sign (33mins) and turned left again to cross a wooden stile (42mins).
Two kissing gates later we reached a road
and turned left. This swung right uphill and we turned right at a wooden public
footpath sign near a house called Avona (57mins). As we paused for pies and
port (58mins) at the foot of a flight of steep steps, we were passed by groups
of hikers from the University of the Third Age and Congleton Ramblers.
Continuing, we ascended the steps and
entered the National Trust-owned grounds of The Cloud (60mins). From the Trig
Point (63mins) we stopped for five minutes to admire the panoramic views. Looking south we could see the ruins of Mow
Cop. Beyond was The Wrekin (39 miles) and in the distance Long Mynd (53 miles).
To the west were the Berwyn Mountains in
Wales (55miles) and Moel Fanau (46 miles). To the north west were Fidler’s
Ferry (27miles) and Liverpool Cathedral (40 miles). We walked down a path in
the west-north-west direction, going straight ahead after passing a gate until
we reached a yellow arrow and turned right (83mins).
Passing Holly Cottage on our left as the
track began to level out (87mins), we turned left at a wooden public footpath
sign marked Gritstone Trail (89mins). We reached a road (93mins) and turned
left downhill. At crossroads we turned right following a sign for Congleton
Station (97mins).
Tension mounted as we neared our
destination, a pub whose name had been forgotten by our leader. It was a
nail-biting interlude until we came across the Coach and Horses at Timbersbrook
on our right (111mins). Joy of joys it was open and selling excellent pints of
Robbies’ bitter at £2-90.
The pub was so warm and welcoming that it
seemed rude not to stay for a second pint. Resuming, we turned left uphill
along a road and turned right into Cherry Lane (120mins). This took us past a
herd of llamas in a field on our left until we joined a road at Overton Hall
(125mins).
Our group turned left into Common Road
(132mins), passing Park House Farm on the left (136mins) and the Mansion House
on the right (138mins). At crossroads we went straight ahead into Newtown Road
(143mins), noting that the sign for Rushton had been bent towards the Congleton
direction.
Passing Chapel Croft B and B, converted
from a chapel, and Holly Bush Farm on our right, Egg Marsh Farm on our left and
Saltersford Farm on our right (151mins), we turned left at a wooden public
footpath sign (152mins).
This took us past the whitewashed Marls
Field Farm on our left and through the yard of Ashmore House Farm (159mins).
Two of us took the correct path marked first left and then right by arrows,
while Lawrie led three followers and a collie through a field and over a barbed
wire fence to rejoin us (165mins).
We went through Pyatt Farm, where a goose
was behaving in a threatening and aggressive manner until challenged by your
diarist, at which point she turned tail and fled into a stable. We turned left
(170mins) and followed a track on our right (173mins) before stopping for lunch
(178mins).
Continuing, we went to the right of a
farmhouse, then left behind it to go through a gate (183mins). After descending
a steep bank we went over a wooden stile and crossed a footbridge over a
stream. Ascending a bank on the far side, we crossed another wooden stile and
turned right (188mins).
Another wooden stile brought us to a road
(190mins) where we turned right downhill. We turned left at a wooden public
footpath sign just before Blackwoodhill Farm (196mins) and crossed two wooden
stiles marked with yellow arrows. These led us through fields until we exited
by a wooden stile to reach a lane (213mins).
Our party turned right at crossroads to
head downhill and we went left at a wooden public footpath sign to enter the
graveyard of St Lawrence’s Church, Rushton (218mins). We passed to the left of
the church, first built in 1203, and walked steeply downhill through a field.
We crossed a bridge and went right over a
stile to reach the disused Macclefield-Leek railway line again. We turned right
under the bridge (226mins) and walked back to the cars (230mins).
After de-booting, we drove to the Old
King’s Head at Gurnett for pints of Banks’ bitter at £2-80. Here we toasted the
70th birthday of Jock, and wished wholeheartedly that he had been
with us to join in the celebration.
Next week’s walk will start from the free
public car park at The Spinners Arms, Bollington, at 9.30am. We intend to stop
for a halfway pint at the Robin Hood, Rainow, which Peter B has confirmed is
now open again at lunchtimes. We hope to be there for 12.30pm and back at The
Dog and Partridge, Bollington, at 2.15pm.
